A common trend in network computing relies on the use of a virtualized server environment in which multiple virtual machines operate within a single physical server. Often, network services are applied to network traffic, such as, for instance, services related to security, traffic optimization, traffic monitoring, etc. Such services, which are commonly offered in the form of specialized standalone appliances in computer networks, may be performed by virtualized servers using corresponding virtual machines within the server. These virtual machines, frequently offered by third-party developers for use in the virtualized server, typically expect to receive and process traffic over a pair of interfaces designated as either “server facing” or “network facing.” For instance, a firewall virtual machine generally expects two configured ports, one for protected traffic (server facing) and one for unprotected traffic (network facing).
Currently, a complex system of virtual switches, e.g., for layer-2 physical and virtual ports, may be used within the virtualized servers to redirect traffic flow towards such virtual machines. Using many virtual switches or “vSwitches” in this manner within a network device may result in a system that is cumbersome to configure and debug, and that requires increased internal resources such as memory (e.g., for multiple forwarding tables for each vS witch, etc.).